We were busy over the holidays in Lumpkin!
We couldn’t do it without our house coordinators
Our hospitality house was bustling over the holidays!
Art and Lauren, our newest house coordinators, served for the first time in a leadership role. In addition to welcoming 16 guests at the hospitality house, two of whom spent the night, and visiting 12 people, volunteers prepared, addressed, and stamped 230 holiday cards in one massive, hours-long sitting! They dropped the cards off at the Lumpkin post office. They also gave out seven gas cards and packed two departure bags.
Executive Director Amilcar Valencia and his wife, Katie, were present as volunteers, and everyone enjoyed Amilcar’s tamales.
Amilcar chatted with three sisters from North Carolina who were visiting their brother at SDC. They described how hard it has been for their family. They did not celebrate Christmas. They opened no presents on Christmas morning. Their boys are asking where their tío is. Their mother is selling tamales to raise money for her son’s bond, which, if granted, may be more than the family can afford. Her son helped her financially before he was detained, and now she may not be able to bond him out of detention.
Another guest traveled 36 hours with her son to visit her husband, who is detained at SDC. The couple just got married over Thanksgiving. The future that once seemed bright is now uncertain and complicated.
El Refugio is so fortunate to have Art and Lauren as our newest house coordinators!
A house full of conversation, coffee, cake, laughter, sorrow, and purpose
The next weekend, Marilyn and Loyda, a seasoned team, welcomed 44 guests, including five who spent the night. We had a volunteer group from St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta, and we were able to visit 11 people. Loyda’s mom joined in, as she was visiting from Bolivia.
They gave out 17 gas cards. St. Bede’s brought 41 gas cards, and El Refugio received a generous donation from North Decatur Presbyterian Church earmarked for gas cards. Thank you!
Frequent volunteers Sister Imelda and Brother Jude helped out immeasurably as always. They are such a delight to have around. A newer volunteer, a former mayor of Bluffton, stopped by to learn more about our hospitality house.
The house was full of conversation, coffee, cake, laughter, sorrow, and purpose. Kids played Headbands and were thrilled when Marilyn unearthed a box of Dino-Bites cereal from the pantry.
The weekend ended as weekends in Lumpkin usually do, with a lot of laundry.
Thank you to everyone who contributes to making these weekends happen! From the house coordinators to the visitation groups to the donors who chip in so we have the funds to keep everything running, everyone plays a role in making weekends in Lumpkin meaningful for so many people in so many ways.
We welcomed 790 guests at our hospitality house in 2024, a record!
We are prepared
Back in Atlanta, the team worked hard processing the many donations received (thank you!), sending out acknowledgments and tax receipts (The first round of tax receipts did not include the organization’s name, doh!, so we sent out another), and planning for 2025.
We are prepared! And we know we can do whatever it takes, because we have so many wonderful supporters!